The present invention relates to a track-mounted excavating machine equipped with a separate, maneuverable tool, preferably a gripping tool intended for gripping around a post and firmly holding the same.
When erecting telephone cables or power cables, essentially two different systems are employed for the purpose of setting the necessary posts in the ground. One of these systems is known as the giraffe system, in which a gripping tool is mounted on the control cabin of a wheel-driven excavator through the intermediary of a telescopically maneuverable operating arm. The drawbacks with this system are that the gripping tool and the telescopically maneuverable arm are unprotected during transportation and that because of its position on the machine, the arm carrying the gripping tool has difficulty in managing the heaviest posts. Furthermore, a wheeled excavating machine has limited accessibility when the ground is muddy and wet, for instance. Neither is the digging ability of a wheeled excavator as great as that of a tracked excavator or digger, and consequently difficulties can arise when the ground to be dug is frozen.
The other system used to mount the posts required in the erection of overhead telephone and power cables includes a truck-mounted excavating machine equipped with a bucket on which a gripping tool is mounted. The most serious drawback with this system is that the digging and gripping functions of the bucket and tool respectively cannot be carried out simultaneously, and consequently two workmen are needed to carry out the work of mounting the posts in the ground. One workman sits in the machine and with the aid of the gripping tool holds the post in position in a pre-dug hole while the other person fills in the hole around the post manually. An attempt to lessen the effect of this drawback can be made by mounting on the bucket two soil-containers which are filled with soil and operated from the control cabin. When the post is subsequently held in place by the gripping tool, the soil-containers are maneuvered so that the soil will fall into the hole in which the post is placed. The hole is not filled completely, however, and consequently the need for two workmen remains.